2015 Build Thread

Went a little crazy with the P clamps. In my opinion though, it's better to have wires and s*** routed nicely away from everything than just being everywhere.







Even though you'll never see anything underneath, you don't want wires all over the place. Routed everything neatly and used either P clamps or repurposed Mazda hardware to keep everything in place.







Another P clamp for the cam/crank/egt wires keeps everything in place. Be sure to leave enough slack to allow the engine to move slightly.



Decided to replace the brake booster hose with a silicone one which will last much longer. There is a check valve inside the stock hose which MUST be swapped over to the new hose to prevent the booster from seeing boost. This is important! I grabbed a couple spares at the junkyard and was able to slide it inside the silicone hose using some dish soap. Ensure you have the valve facing the correct direction.





 
I needed to address the cooling setup on this car. Nothing wrong with what I had before, I just didn't particularly like it. With the A/C condenser and power steering cooler now gone, I had tons of room in front of the radiator to work with now. I decided to build a fan shroud and mount two pusher fans instead of the pullers I had before. This serves two purposes; it frees up room behind the rad for a bigger turbo, and by building a shroud, makes the cooling system more efficient. Some argue that when fans are mounted on the front of a radiator, enclosing them in a shroud will disrupt some of the natural airflow at speed. Because I've got the fans controlled by the Haltech, I can have them come on whenever I see fit, and I maximized the size of them, so there really isn't much radiator that's covered by the shroud.

To start, I took some measurements of the PWR triple-pass radiator, and drew up a blueprint of what I needed. With material ordered, it was bent into shape to make the shroud.







Debated on welding the shroud to the rad permanently, but I want to be able to remove it for cleaning, etc. So, using weatherstrip around the edges to protect the rad as well as provide an airtight seal, I drilled mounting holes for rivets.



Fan holes measured and cut out







Decided to use some chrome acorn nuts (because they look cool) to mount the fans, and riveted the finished shroud to the rad.





 
Built up a 4 pin weatherpak connector and mounted the completed rad into the vehicle. Very pleased with how it turned out.







Turbosmart billet fuel rail adapter.

 
Good work!

My only critiques are:
1. The cam, crank, and egt sensor wiring is super awkward. All that cleanliness you freed up by eliminating the PS and AC is now cluttered by that bundle of wires. Run them to the back of the motor with your AN oil lines and chop down your wiper fluid filler neck.
2. Battery - I don't know what you have going on in the hatch, but moving it back there frees up tons of room (and a bunch of weight) in the bay.
3. The bolt holding the p-clamp down on the coolant neck is dirty =P
 
Good work!

My only critiques are:
1. The cam, crank, and egt sensor wiring is super awkward. All that cleanliness you freed up by eliminating the PS and AC is now cluttered by that bundle of wires. Run them to the back of the motor with your AN oil lines and chop down your wiper fluid filler neck.
2. Battery - I don't know what you have going on in the hatch, but moving it back there frees up tons of room (and a bunch of weight) in the bay.
3. The bolt holding the p-clamp down on the coolant neck is dirty =P


Appreciate the criticism, however the objective was not to do a full blown wire-tuck. Function over form. I can't move the battery to the hatch as there is no room with my stereo equipment.
 
626 Master cylinder upgrade. The stock protg MC is 15/16" diameter. With the BBK, an upgrade is in order. The master cylinder found on the Mazda 626 and 929 (V6 models with ABS) is a 1" unit. 1/16" doesn't sound like much, but remember surface area increases exponentially in a circle. Given the math, the stock MC has a surface area of 0.69 square inches. The 1" unit has a surface area of 0.79 square inches. A 15% increase. The master cylinder is a direct bolt in, however new lines will have to be made as they now exit on the drivers side of the MC. This has the added benefit of a more stealth look as well. Stock shown on right, 626 on left. One from an automatic will also work, but will not have the nipple on the reservoir for the clutch master cylinder, so you will need to swap the Protg one over.







Bending and flaring the lines was a challenge. They must make an immediate turn to avoid the space where the battery resides.



With the intake side catch can mounted, I could plumb up new lines. A 120* off the can into a 90* at the valve cover worked great and gave lots of clearance for the intake pipe. Clamped it to the fuel line using a -8 and -6 separator.



 
nice! will it be back up and running this summer? how did you get such a clean set of mazdaspeed pedals by the way
 
Sorry it's been awhile since the last update.

Had to re-fab up some intercooler pipes. Didn't like the way they were before. Added in and repositioned some stuff, tacked them all up and they went off to legendboy for finish welding.





With the pipes back and given a fresh coat of gloss black, they were installed.









Cut down the washer neck, labeled it for meth, and ran the methanol line through the frame where I could and then used P clamps to secure it on the underside of the frame rail for a stealth look.



 
Picked up the last remaining new Corksport 80mm Protg exhaust. I already had the 2.5" P5 one, but wanted to upsize for more boost, so 3.1" will help in that regard. Unfortunately, they never made the 80mm for the P5, so the muffler section will need to be shortened by 4".









Notice the bulls*** restriction where it's choked down to 2.5" at the front of the pipe. I understand WHY they did this (to mate with the stock tiny downpipe) but this just won't do for me... I will be using a stainless V-Band. bulls*** restriction removed:





With the exhaust temporarily hung, I could get to work on a new downpipe. Picked up some mild (alum) steel bends to work with, as the pipe will be ceramic coated when complete. Started by welding a 90 to the flange. I can get all 4 allen head bolts on there, but will likely still dimple the pipe slightly.



 
Now, I want to start by saying that I am a bad welder. I have an el-cheapo Mig, but it's good enough to tack s*** together and I'll have legendboy TIG it once complete. After dicking around with different bends, I decided I didn't like the 45 on there anymore after the 90. Decided to use the other half of the 180, offset about 30* rearward. Will allow lots of clearance for the turbo oil return as well. Welded in a flex pipe, which clears the windage tray bolts by about 1/2" (its TIGHT under there!) and called it a night.







Now I had to decide what to do next to mate up with the CS exhaust... It's not a "straight shot" since I cut off the smaller piece, you can't come straight out of the downpipe and into the space where the midpipe goes without hitting the windage tray or frame crossmember. I ****** around with this for an hour or so, and finally decided on two 30* bends that I cut. It allowed me to move the exit both vertically up, as well as laterally to correct for any side to side position error in the midpipe. I am pleased with how it turned out.









 
With the main downpipe finished, it was time to turn my attention to the wastegate dump tube. No, I am not going to run a screamer pipe. A properly sized exhaust will not gain anything with a screamer pipe, and I hate the noise they make. I'm sorry I didn't take many pictures as I was cutting and welding, but the part where it joins back into the main pipe was a COCK to try and cut properly... I was dealing with about 16 different angles, the rounded edge of the planer came in handy!

Couple shots of the finished piece:











And installed in the car. The turbo setup will need to go in first, THEN the radiator, and finally the downpipe. With the fan shroud now affixed to the rad permanently, it no longer slides straight up.





All told, I have about 20-25 hours into that downpipe. It's the first "major" fabrication project I have taken on by myself, I'm pleased with how it turned out. Off to legendboy for finish welding tomorrow, and then I can have it ceramic coated when it's back. That's all for now!
 
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